Olea 22nd Infantry
History Olea has spent most of its history struggling against Orks. One war after another required that most of the world's men be called to away to fight and keep the advancing Ork hordes away from Olea and the name “Stonewalls” has become legend to the Imperial Guard of Olea and to her people. Originally intended as heavy infantry their role as combat engineers was something of a happy accident, it was discovered that many of the men had worked construction jobs before turning to the Imperial Guard. The Departmento Munitorum quickly took advantage of this and reorganized the regiment to work with their strengths. Despite being the last of the original twenty two regiments they are still Olea's elite fighting men, certainly the best known. Every Olea man to join the Imperial Guard aspires to be a member of the Regiment but most never make it, being assigned to one of the other forty three regiments, often to their intense disappointment. However their reputation as an elite unit also sees them tasked with the most difficult of assignments. It has been that way for countless years and will be so for many more, the unit has come close to complete destruction several times but always survives to fight again. Like most fighting men on Olea they initally steadfastly refused to fight alongside their female comrades, but this attitude changed when the all female light infantry gained impressive records and so they have developed a grudging respect for them. Rather than admit this fact they instead boast about how they stand and fight the waves of Orks charging them instead of running away. They served with distinction in the intervening years between their founding and the birth of the Tricamerate Pact and in the century or so following, which saw them fight alongside other regiments from those three worlds many times over. Like many Tricamerate Pact regiments their current generation is assigned to the fringes of the River of Exiles in the Exile Sector fighting on Caritas, alongside the Khazamga 7th Infantry though they are assigned to different regions of the planet. Structure Commanded by a Colonel and a Major who serves as executive officer 1.4 companies of 300 each commanded by a Captain *Each company is 10 platoons of 30- each commanded by a Lieutenant. *Each platoon is 3 squads of 10 each commanded by a Sergeant *Squad- 10 members broken into * 2 fire teams-composed of a team leader (team 1 leader is the squad Sgt.), Team 1 is a Heavy Bolter team (two guardsmen who also carry the standard equipment of the regiment) Team 2 is 1 Meltagunner and 1 Guardsman (also trained as a field medic) Equipment *Olea "Ironwood"pattern Carapace armor (Regimental symbol on the right shoulder- a stylized image of a stone wall Company number on the upper right chestplate) *Olea "Ironwood" pattern helmet(includes lowlight and night vision functions as well as an air filter) *Dresden pattern Meltagun * "Thunderhead" pattern Heavy Bolter *M36 Kantrael pattern lasgun/4 drum magazines *M36 pattern laspistol/4 charge packs *Olea Pattern Hellgun *Marcone Pattern Rocket launcher *"Panoply" pattern construction tool(a metal shaft with a modular tip. options included A prybar, a shovel, a mattock or a saw blade ) *Tool box containing smaller hammers, the "roughneck" multitool, a battery powered power drill and a battery powered circular saw. * explosive charges/detcord (meant to clear rough terrain but often turned into improvised mines) * "Frostbite" Fighting knife(a design shared by the Light Infantry) *''Imperial Guardsman's uplifting Primer'' * 12 days of rations(often including canned fish processed in Iron Harbor) *Winter clothes (brought from home by the soldiers in the regiment and as such not standardized) *Medical supplies *dogtags *black canvas rucksack with external loops for the panoply/attachments. Uniform *Black shirt with rank markers on sleeves *Wide belt holding weapon charge packs and tools. *Steel toed boots(supplied as part of Ironwood pattern armor) with removable greaves *Canvas gloves with studded knuckles and armored wrist plates. Tactical Doctine They are built to fight Orks, fighting from a distance with heavy weapons, hoping to thin their ranks before the Orks inevitably close the gap. As such they are more than capable of facing less resilient enemies. As they are combat engineers it often falls to them to build the fortifications they and their allies use, fighting to protect builders still working on their construction projects. They have learned to work quickly, blasting apart boulders to fill sandbags digging trenches or building wooden palisade walls when there is neither time or materials to do better. While they prefer rockcrete, metal sheeting and razor wire they can usually make whatever they have on hand work to some degree. Their heavy equipment load means that they cannot move quickly, leaving them in danger of being outflanked. Knowing this they build their trenches in a U shape, or work with the terrain whenever possible letting nature do the job for them. They are a very defensively oriented regiment, relying on others they are deployed alongside to draw enemies into their fortifications and gun emplacements. If those defenses are breached they have found that their engineering tools function quite well as makeshift weapons, some of the more creative among the first founding actually developed drills for them, using prybars, mattocks and shovels as polearms. While of limited utility against Orks these improvised weapons are highly effective against lesser foes. Notable Battles Cancridrae Xenocide (002.M40-006.M40) Grantis IV(639 M41) Grantis IV was a world in the Kanye Cluster under attack from within by a Slaanesh cult. The 22nd acted as the spearhead of a counterattack leading the 17th Olea Infantry, the Medici 13th Brigade, the Vatian 1st Corps and the Szerkasian 18th Regiment. This cult was not nearly as well prepared as their Imperial Guard opponents and they were defeated in a matter of days with light losses across all comitted units. unfortunately for Alanna Birch Her father, brother and husband, all serving with The Stonewalls, died in action. Xomia(650-651 M41) As Olea's elite infantry unit they were sent to Xomia as part of their contribution to the liberation army bound for the planet. Sho'rguzar Their most notable battle during those months came when they were assigned to the ruined city of Sho‘rguzar which saw them fighting alongside Xomia PDF, the Szerkasian 20th ( including the legendary Leman Russ Killer Queen) and several units of Khazamga Rough Riders. Their orders were to rebuild several key fortifications as much of the wall as possible, giving Khazamaga Rough Riders refuge and a base to strike from on the otherwise open plains. They came under attack almost immediately, but despite this they finished work on the central bastion in roughly a month. Rough Rider units including the "Hard Chargers" and Xomia PDF flocked to the city due to a miscommunication incorrectly believing the walls had also been finished. Seeing such a large concentration of enemies in the same area one of the Warbosses saw an opportunity and threw his WAAAGH at the city. The massive clash would last for seventeen straight hours and involve tens of thousands of Greenskins. This forced the use of innovative tactics, bikers and horsemen would fight alongside armor, charging into Ork units weakened by cannon fire and drawing them into choke points set up in the crowded streets and other such innovations. The Imperium was victorious that day and the battle would later be seen as the perfect example of A tricamerate Pact victory, units from all three worlds working toward a single goal and succeeding Iotera(652M41) Iotera is not part of the Tricamerate Pact nor holds any economic interest for them but the world's governor requested aid against Chaos corrupted Raiders in the hills surrounding his capital city. As they built fortifications and bases for the PDF they made very little progress until the raiders gave up their guerrilla style tactics. While the Raider's cries of "Blood for the Blood God!" echoed around them they held their ground despite being outnumbered many times over. The death of a single man shifted the odds in their favor and they pressed on to gain victory. The Iotera PDF would hunt down the rest of the rebels killing the last of them three weeks later. The Governor realized he was at least partially to blame and so loosened his grip on his citizens not from altruism but fear of another rebellion. The 22nd Infantry stayed just long enough to finish building the PDF a new Headquarters before moving on. Rocks Fall(653 M41) Rocks Fall was one of several mining complexes on an otherwise uninhabited moon in Tricamerate Space. It caught the eye of an Ork WAAAGH who quickly invaded. Though it was small capturing the moon would give them a staging area to invade Olea and the resources they needed to do so. The pact responded just as quickly, dispatching the 20th, 21st and 22nd Infantry, the 6th Light Infantry , the Khazamga 9th Infantry and the 7th Xomia Infantry "The Rock Hounds" They found the complex overrun with the mining complexes of Stone Bridge and Waters Running under siege. Colonel Oakes quickly took charge of the entire army, broke through the encroaching Orks and turned both complexes into fortresses. The three Heavy Infantry Regiments withstood the worst of the fighting holding the Orks in place while the rest went on the offensive. The Khazamga used their skills perfectly, supporting Xomia Chimeras carrying men who had been fighting Orks for decades. They held the line and slowly pushed back after weeks of trench warfare in which the 22nd suffered terribly when the Orks charged the trenches time and again. The combined army bought the time for an element of Battlefleet Medici to arrive, destroy the Ork fleet bringing reinforcements and then finish off the rest with a well placed orbital bombardment at Rocks Fall. This broke the back of the WAAAGH, killing its leaders and starting them on a path of devastating infighting. They evacuated the badly bloodied 22nd, sending them back to Olea to rebuild and leaving the rest of the combined Tricamerate Pact army to finish the fight. Catriona One of Caritas' major cities it was a tempting target to heretic and xenos alike. Arriving shortly after a major cult uprising they found the city's defenses in ruins and its surviving defenders badly demoralized, with sporadic fighting still occurring in the area Colonel Diamond took charge, taking up their fight and destroying the cult in several days. They found themselves with another problem, Orks were soon drawn to the weakened Imperial world and the men of Olea used their skills and experience to force them offworld, later to join the forces of one of the two Warbosses within the River of Exiles. Turning their skills as engineers and builders to a peaceful purpose they rebuilt the badly damaged Cathedral district, restoring the millenia old structures and turning the largest into a heavily fortified shelter whose grounds could hold thousands, should the need arise. When the 22nd was called away to fight in the Eporias Islands the citizens took charge of rebuilding their city, at present still working to restore it. For the first time in many long years its green tiled domes and spires again rise above the city walls. The Eporias Islands This area of the planet had been out of contact for decades, the result of a localized warp storm conjured by a Chaos Sorcerer who lost control. After the Storm had subsided enough to send an army into the area the 20th, 21st and 22nd found hundreds of square miles of blasted hellscape populated by mutants and abominations. The inland sea surrounding the islands had long since dried up, turning the islands into rocky hills, perfect for them to fight on, provided they could take them back first. They did so, marching uphill against hordes of warp tainted beings defying description, They held firm against their fierce counterattacks for more than month before ridding the Islands of them entirely. With the fighting over they remain there rebuilding the ruined cities and Imperial citizens are slowly returning to their ancestral homes. Notable Members Past Colonel Roan Holden A third generation soldier of the Olea 22nd “Stonewalls" He was placed in indefinite acting command for the duration of the Cancridrae Xenocide due to the death of his commander during the Second Siege of Korinthos, one of the major battles of the brief conflict. He survived the Crusade as the personal bodyguard and confidant of Warmaster van Dragen, only to die of lung cancer twenty years later after many further campaigns thanks to his love of Lho Sticks. Known as a stalwart and reliable commander of men, the current generation of the unit still celebrates his memory to this day. Sgt. Jasper Hollis Famous for his augmetic right hand and the story of how he lost it to a Squig at Rocks Fall. However he was holding an armed grenade, he later reflected that the sacrifice was worth it, the grenade did not go off until the Squig had run off and hopped onto the tailgate of a Wartrukk. The Wartrukk quickly spun out of control and down into a ravine, exploding before it hit the bottom. The rest of his squad found the absurd turn of events hilarious, providing a large boost. He survived and was sent home, later returning to duty with a new augmetic so good he often forgot it wasn't made of flesh. Callum Hawthorne One of many fallen Olea fighting men regarded as heroes. Killed by a single headshot from a cultist's lasgun on Iotera his lifeless body fell forward onto a detonator, setting off an explosive charge that destroyed an entire hillside and most of the cultists with it. The regiment would use the debris to build Iotera's PDF a base in the valley before being called away. His grave, overlooking Iotera's capital city is maintained by her citizens even after more than a century. Present Lt. Julius Diamond A distant cousin of the current Commander he earned his place due to equal nepotism and tactical skill. Colonel Diamond keeps him a tight leash- his family connection earned him his rank but they have a standing agreement- they share a surname but that proves nothing- Lt. Diamond must always prove he's worth his rank. So far, this agreement has kept the younger Diamond in line and has gotten him to continually keep his skills sharp. As well as being an in practice warrior he's also something of a military theorist and amateur philosopher. Category:Tricamerate Pact Category:Imperial Guard Regiments Category:Heavy Infantry Regiments